


Birthday Gift-Ficlets 2013

by Beryll (Rynthjan)



Series: Birthday Gift-Ficlets [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Brothers, Multi, Sexual Content, Slavery, phoenix empire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 07:38:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 18
Words: 4,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3282326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rynthjan/pseuds/Beryll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every year I write little gift fics for my dear readers. These are the ones I did 2013. </p>
<p>Summary for each ficlet will be in the notes of each chapter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Challenge

**Author's Note:**

> Title: "Challenge"  
> Verse: Brothers  
> Pairing: Maric/Seyon  
> Prompt: If winning isn't everything, then why do they keep score?  
> Warnings: smut  
> 

31

32

Maric desperately bit his lips to keep all the sounds inside that threatened to escape him. Moans, sighs, grunts and groans.

37

Seyon's mouth wrapped tightly around his cock was an image that was forever searing itself into his memory. The prince's tongue was doing things to him that he had never experienced before.

41

Maric's hands fisted in Seyon's hair as the prince inched forward, swallowing more of him, the impossible tightness of his throat beckoning.

47

Then Seyon's eyes flicked up to him, sparkling with mirth.

Maric hissed with pleasure as his cock entered the prince's throat.

56

Or was it 55?

He couldn't keep up the count anymore, all his attention focused on the tight, wet heat enveloping him.

Seyon was too good at this. Licking and sucking with his eyes grinning.

With a hoarse, muffled shout Maric came hard down the prince's throat and then collapsed back into the chair, his head falling back.

Seyon withdrew from his cock with an obscene, slurping noise that made Maric shudder with a mix of pleasure and disgust.

"71." Seyon said with infuriating smugness. "Told you I'd make you come before 100."

"I hate you." Maric muttered without much conviction.

"Yeah, I know."


	2. wedding Jitters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Wedding Jitters  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Yaden/Colin  
> Prompt: On the morning of their wedding, Yaden calms Colin's nerves

"Mmmh… oh yes… right there…" Colin purred like a human sized kitten and rolled his head further to the side, giving Yaden's hands more space for their massage of his shoulder.

Yaden smiled down on his lover and very soon to be husband. He was as beautiful as the day he had first laid eyes on him, when Colin had stepped from his bakery into the early morning mists of Leichnam to set up the sign that said what bread he would be selling that day. Only now his skin was a lot more tanned, a colour that was as tasty to Yaden as his lover's freshly baked bread.

He gently dug his fingers into the muscles running from Colin's neck to his shoulders, happily noting how relaxed his lover was now.

The sun slanting in through their window told Yaden that they were out of time, but he indulged himself and leaned down to trail kissed down Colin's back.

A pleased shiver ran through his lover and Colin arched up into the touch of his lips.

"Love, we have to go now." Yaden said, his heart light with a mix of regret that they wouldn't be doing more right now and giddy anticipation.

"Huh…?" Colin murmured, still half passed out with relaxed bliss.

"The wedding, love. You have about ten minutes to get your shirt and coat back on before we need to be at the chapel."

"Oh." Colin turned over and grinned up at Yaden, utterly content, his earlier panic entirely gone. "I guess that sounds nice." He said with a cheeky grin and then drew Yaden down for a last heated kiss.


	3. Missed Opportunities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Missed Opportunities  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Wesley/Leesha/Josh/Jimmy  
> Prompt: I always kinda feel Jimmy is left out of the fun sex - so orgy? (can be a dream sequence if it doesn't fit into the verse otherwise, wouldn't want to derail that)  
> Warnings: smut

Wesley grinned widely as he slowly dribbled more of the chocolate sauce onto Jimmy's belly and watched as it overflowed from his belly button and ran down to the boy's eager young cock, where Josh was lapping it up.

Jimmy's groans and yelps where muffled by their master kissing him.

Hungrily Wesley leaned down as well to lick up the sauce before it could drip off his belly onto the kitchen counter where Jimmy was spread out like a feast for the other three to devour him.

Then he worked his way up to the boy's throat, liking, kissing and biting.

The high pitched whine from Jimmy told him that Josh was getting serious with sucking the kid's cock.

His master's hand roughly grabbed his hair and Wesley moaned with pleasure as he was pulled up so they could both kiss Jimmy, their tongues invading the sweet boy's mouth.

Wesley grinned into the kiss, knowing full well that this was only an appetizer of what was still to come. Between the three of them they would ravish the boy until he was nothing but a hot, mindless mess of come and sweat and blissful exhaustion…

-

"Wesley?"

The deep, strong voice ripped Wes right out of his happy daydream and he blinked at Jimmy in irritation.

The man across the counter was nothing like the sweet boy in Wesley's fantasy. Taller than Wesley with broad shoulders and muscled arms covered with tattoos. In one corner of his mouth he had held a cigar between his teeth. And he was frowning.

How had that cute kid grown up into this somewhat brutish man, Wesley wondered for the millionth time.

"What were you thinking just there?" Jimmy asked.

"Just contemplating missed opportunities." Wesley answered with an anguished sigh.


	4. Not Stealing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Not Stealing  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Leesha, Jimmy  
> Prompt: One of Leesha's slaves does something that legitimately warrants punishment. (There's like, 8000 different ways you could go with this and I would GLEEFULLY read all 8000 of them.) Bonus points for terror and angst; it can safely be assumed that Leesha will be a Grade A Awesome Motherfucker regardless of any other circumstance :D  
> Warnings: Angst

Jimmy can't help trembling in the grip of the massive gauntlet, firmly holding him by his arm.

The Ruby Guard escorting him is a towering, menace under his faceless helmet. And probably he is anything but amused that he had to come out to the farmer's market of Imperial City and wade through all the common people to get Jimmy. The fact that the trader was yelling at him, making a scene can't have helped. Actually Jimmy is really grateful that the huge Guard hasn't accidentally 'lost' him instead of returning him to his master.

Which, of course, is the whole reason he is trembling in the first place.

Leesha has put his trust in him, has given him responsibility.

And now all that will be ruined because that stupid merchant thought he was trying to steal his wares when he was only looking at them.

Why ever would he steal them when he has credits to pay for them, now?

Not his fault that THIS particular merchant remembered him from before, when he was still a street rat!

But why would they believe him? At least the merchant didn't just chop off his hand like he planned at first when he noticed the earrings. No, he called in a Ducal Crescent who in turn called the palace to get a Ruby Guard to pick him up. And it was all a huge commotion with everyone staring at him and pointing and whispering.

And DAMN it, he tried so hard but in the end a few tears escaped anyway.

And now he is so fucking scared cause why would Leesha believe him when no one else does?

Then he is hauled into Leesha's office and Jimmy just can't look at his master, can't bear to see the disappointment cause that will sting so much worse than any punishment.

"Thank you, that will be all." Leesha calmly tells the Ruby Guard, who releases Jimmy's arm at last and stomps off.

Jimmy tries to shrink into himself. What he wouldn't give for a hole to open underneath him and swallow him up right now.

But there is no hole. Instead Leesha is suddenly there and wraps him in a tight embrace. And Jimmy just can't understand why is master is trembling, too.

"Are you alright?" Leesha asked him. "Did they hurt you?"

Now, Jimmy looks up at him, eyes brimming with tears again, and sees nothing but care and worry in his master's eyes. He mutely shakes his head.

"You didn't really try to steal anything, did you?" Leesha asks.

Again Jimmy shakes his head.

And then he starts to cry in earnest because he can see in Leesha's eyes that he believes him.


	5. Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Thoughts  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Ciel/Sean  
> Prompt: the first thought that sprang into his mind when P2 Prime approached him was...

Captain Sean Sanders watched with mounting panic as Prime Ciel slowly wove his way through the milling crowd towards him. There was no doubt in his mind that the immensely powerful psion was heading straight for him. After all he had been watching him since he had spotted nearly an hour ago.

Of course it had been a very stupid idea to look at a powerful telempath with such single minded fascination. Of course he would pick up on that attention.

The fact that this was the adopted son of Lady Lilith, who was probably the most dangerous woman in the Empire, was only making matters worse.

What the hell had he been thinking?

He was just a commoner and a filthy mutant to boot. No amount of good reputation he had earned as a Ruby Guard Captain would save him from the wrath of this branch of the Dracon family.

There wasn't even a point in running away. Prime Ciel would find him no matter under what rock he tried to hide.

So he watched like a hypnotized rabbit, as the Prime nimbly ducked past the last few people standing between him and Sean.

Prime Ciel's face was calm, but inwards he had to be churning with disgust at Sean's thoughts. If only Sean would be able to get his thoughts away from the fact how gorgeous the Prime looked tonight. If only he would be able to not remember the gentle, warm caress of the psion's mind, when Ciel had supervised the port to his last mission. But his mind was filled with images growing more and more inappropriate the harder Sean fought to control them.

He was well and truly damned.

"Hi," Prime Ciel said, a shy smile suddenly gracing his lips, "I was wondering if you would like to share a drink maybe?"


	6. Once a year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Once a Year  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Leesha/Bron  
> Prompt: chains and whips  
> Warnings: non-con, smut?

The sound of the door opening sent icy tendrils up Bron's spine. Icy tendrils of fear and hate and defeat. He yanked on the chains tying him firmly to the bed, shifting on the black silk sheets.

Experience should have taught him by now that he couldn't escape this, that for this one night every year he was nothing but a fuck toy to be used and abused. But he couldn't help it, he couldn't submit.

Not even to his Emperor.

Especially not to his Emperor.

But it was this or die.

He flinched at the sound of whip, experimentally swishing through the air.

Like every year his muscles tensed up, like every year he fought the chocking feeling of helplessness. Like every year he lost the fight.

Like every year he hissed when graceful, cool fingers ran up his leg, caressed his thigh, took a firm grip on his balls.

Like every year a yelp of pain escaped him when those fingers squeezed hard.

The throaty chuckle from his Emperor, his master, made him shiver.

"Bron, my wonderful Bron, how I have missed you." Leesha purred.


	7. Headache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Headache  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Gregory/Amadeus  
> Prompt: Emperor Gregorius wakes up grumpy

Greg woke with a crushing headache. The fact that there was no apparent reason for that pain didn't help to cheer him up at all.

No boring, tedious, annoying social function which had kept him busy well into the night before.

No looming terror that might swallow up his Empire this morning.

No terrible sense of foreboding.

No nothing.

Just a nagging pain that felt like some giant blacksmith was cheerfully using his skull as an anvil while a marching band played loudly to accompany the screeching singing of some Youh'Kai opera.

He didn't dare open his eyes, afraid of what bright light might to do him.

He didn't dare move either, instinctively knowing how much worse that would make it.

So he lay in utter misery, sincerely wishing he was dead.

Until he heard soft footfalls right next to the bed.

"Don't worry, baby, I've got you." Amy's gentle voice whispered.

And then he felt the short, blessed sting of a hypospray against his neck and the sweet relief of painkillers spreading through him.


	8. Sweet little slut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Sweet little slut  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Alexej/Mauve  
> Prompt: So, since I adore Mauve so much, how about a moment in time when he is doing something that perhaps he shouldn't, but his master finds it so adorable that he is 'rewarded' just for being so cute.  
> Warnings: smut

"Mauve? Dear god, Mauve, what are you…?"

I looked up at Alexej with eyes mortified at the fact that he had caught me.

And the evening had started so nicely.

It had sounded like awesome fun to accompany him and Mistress Andrea to the annual meeting of the imperial marines who were not in the service any longer and had settled on Malicorn. After many of them were Alexej's friends and I loved meeting new people. And of course they were also ex-marines which meant they were really nice to look at.

Only it had turned out they were a little more than nice to look at. Most of them were hunky, muscled studs who made me ago all wobbly in the knees and hot and hard in other places.

The fact that Alexej kept greeting them with manly hugs and arm clasp and those awfully sexy chuckles of his had quickly driven me to the brink of my self control.

So I had withdrawn to what I though was a quiet, unobserved spot to quickly jerk off. After all I didn't want to give these men ideas. I had seen enough gangbang porn and been the centre of some to know getting fucking by all these dudes would be more pain than fun. Not to mention that it would have bothered Alexej a lot.

At least I thought it was a quiet, unobserved spot.

Alexej had found me anyway.

"You are…" Alexej noted incredulously what I was doing and I blushed violently.

But then he chuckled once more, shaking his head. "Andrea is right, you know, you really are our sweet little slut." He said and stepped into the small spot behind the garden shed where I had chosen to hide.

His large hand firmly covered my own on my cock and started moving me again.

"Let me give you a hand with that." He drawled with a dirty grin.


	9. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: The morning after  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Leesha, Jimmy  
> Prompt: I WANT I WANT I WANT an interaction between Jimmy and Leesha after Leesha becomes Emperor!!

Jimmy looked up as his boss shuffled into the kitchen. Leesha looked like death warmed over. Actually, make that like death run over by a truck, dumped into a trash grinder and then warmed over.

With a pained grunt the ruler of the Phoenix Empire leaned against the kitchen counter, blindly groping around.

With an indulgent smile, Jimmy poured his master a mug of coffee - stiff as board - and gently placed it into the searching hands.

Leesha grunted something unintelligible and clung to the mug like a drowning man would to a lifebelt.

Jimmy puffed on his cigar thoughtfully, wondering what would help his boss recover. Maybe this whole wedding business hadn't been Leesha's smartest idea, but Jimmy was firmly on his master's side. After all being Emperor he was a pretty awesome match. And a really nice guy to boot. He really thought that dude should be showing a little more gratitude.

"He still pissed at you?" he asked, deeply sympathetic to Leesha's plight.

"Very." Leesha groaned.

"Want me to beat some sense into him?"

That at least brought a small smile to Leesha's face. "Thanks for the offer, but no." He said. "He'll come around. Eventually. Hopefully. One day."


	10. Firstborn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Firstborn  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Lilith/Mahut  
> Prompt: i want a scene between Leesha's mother and one of her pets

Mahut looked at the tiny baby in his arms with a sense of wonder that brought tears to his eyes.

When he had been taken as a slave and sold as a pet to a Dracon noble, he had pretty much considered his life over. That he had changed hands and come into the possession of a whimsical, sometimes casually cruel young mistress had not looked like an improvement.

She had changed, though. From a bored girl to a responsible young woman. From a cruel mistress to a warm lover.

Still, when she told him that she was pregnant with his child, icy fear had gripped his heart at the idea that his child would be born a slave.

She had been deeply wounded by his lack of joy until she managed to pry out of him what weighed on his heart.

Then she had been even more deeply wounded and haughtily informed him that her firstborn child would be her heir, that her heir would be a noble just as she was.

That she would grant this to a slave's brat was maybe not unheard of but anything but usual. It was also utterly her.

Through his tears he smiled down at the boy. "Veruda." He whispered. "My son."

"I hope he will become as wise and kind as you." Lilith purred, leaned against him, one arm slung around his hips.

Even now, just as day after giving birth she was beautiful. His mistress. His love.

"I hope he will be as beautiful and strong as his mother." Mahut replied with another smile.

She smiled back at him, thoughtfully. "Thank you, my love, for this." She said. "Without you, I would never have had this. Never have wanted this."


	11. Knucklebones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Knucklebones  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Wesley/Josh/Leesha  
> Prompt: Leesha Josh and Wesley naked fun together  
> Warnings: some smut

"Uhm… am I interrupting something…?"

Both Josh and Wesley needed a moment to sufficiently come back to their senses to actually react to the somewhat amused voice of their master, talking somewhere above them.

They weren't entirely how they had ended up on the floor in front of the large couch, but they somehow had found enough space between said couch and the coffee table to loose most of their clothes and get their mouths on each others cocks.

Now they both blinked up at Leesha in adorable confusion and mortification.

"We… erhm… this isn't…" Josh started and then blushed violently.

Leesha snickered and grinned. "Oh, I'm quite sure it is." He drawled. "I'm really just curious how it got this far."

"We were just… I mean… I was trying to…" Josh started an explanation only to get interrupted by Wesley.

"Knucklebones. He was trying to teach me knucklebones."

Wesley smiled up at his master hopefully, trying to gauge whether he had crossed some line in getting this intimate with Leesha's favourite pet without explicit permission. His master's quite persistent grin reassured him greatly.

"I have no clue how you got from knucklebones to blowjobs but do carry on." Leesha graciously waved his hand. Then he swung himself over the back of the couch where he had been standing so far and settled cross-legged on the seat. "I'll be over here watching and giving helpful advice."


	12. Spring Gardening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Soring Gardening  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Yaden, Darren  
> Prompt: Darren has a little chat with Yaden about the facts of life.

"Darren, can I ask you something…?"

I looked up from my book and found my Yaden had sneaked into the library and was now standing next to me, nervously bobbing on his toes. Like always I could read his face like an open book and he was clearly uncomfortable.

So I smiled at him reassuringly. "Of course." I said.

"I… uh…" He rubbed his palms on his pants in a gesture I had come to interpret as him being confused by some social interaction he had not understood. "I tried to play with the other boys. Like you said I should." He explained.

He hadn't been too happy about the suggestion, worried that they would shun him as a freak. Now he looked even less happy.

"And?" I prompted him patiently.

"They asked if you were fucking me." He said and before I could sputter at that idea he continued. "What is fucking?"

Now I just gaped at him. He was a boy of thirteen years. Surely he would know. Surely someone would have explained to him. Or he would have picked up on. He was a Dracon! How could he not know?

But he just looked at me with confused, hopeful eyes, making it entirely obvious that he had no clue whatsoever.

"Uh…" I said not very helpfully, desperately trying to come up with a graceful way to explain this particular topic.

"Is it something bad?" he asked, worry now creasing his brow.

"No," he quickly reassured him, "no it is not something bad. Not at all. It is actually something very nice. It's just not something the two of us should be doing." I then added quickly, just to make sure he didn't get it in his head to try with me.

"So what is it?" he asked, curiosity winning out over confusion and worry.

I scanned the library, looking for some sort of inspiration and then my eyes found exactly what I was looking for - a beautiful leather bound edition of the Dracon gardening manuals.

"Let me show you." I sat and got the first volume down from the shelf. "We'll start with the basics. This is called spring gardening. It tells you everything you need to know about how to touch another person to make them feel really good…"


	13. How Greg met Amy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: How Greg met Amy  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Gregory/Amadeus  
> Prompt: Comparing Emperors courtships, do Greg's

"Who is that?" Greg asked and gestured with his glass towards the man who had just entered the room and immediately seemed to command the attention of all guests in his vicinity.

He was tall, blonde and handsome in an infuriatingly natural way. Wearing casual slacks and a white shirt with the first two buttons open he didn't fit into in with the high class attire of the other guests at all and still he managed to make them look like they were the ones who had chosen the wrong style. His smile was open and charming.

He made Greg itch in a way that could really only mean one thing.

"That's Amadeus Habichtswald." Lady Drea answered. She was the hostess of tonight's little party, a very distant cousin to Greg and had been simultaneously delighted and scared shitless by the fact that Greg had deigned to come to her party. "He is a big fish in the social circus here on P2."

Coming to P2 was Greg's last ditch effort to amuse himself. He was utterly bored with the parties and orgies on Serin. Utterly bored with everything, really. He was sixteen years old and already he felt like he had tasted everything that life had to offer.

A real Habichtswald, however, was not in his collection yet.

"I'm going to fuck him." He announced calmly.


	14. Family Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Family Dinner  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Hyperion, Grigory/Amadeus  
> Prompt: Hyperion, Greg and Amy have dinner.

"…and then he looks at the mess on his plate, and back at me, and I frown at him and then - I swear I'm not making this up - then he seriously pissed himself with fear!" Amadeus finishes his story.

The booming laughter of Emperor Hyperion sounds like rolling thunder. Mixed with it is the much lighter, charming laughter of Amadeus.

To anyone else listening, Amadeus laughter would be the harmless one. To Greg it sounds like the clear sharp lightning fitting perfectly with his father's thunder.

They are the most fearsome duo he has ever seen and he still can't comprehend how his father and husband have become friends so frightening instantly. Or 'buddies', as they call it.

Who would have thought they share so many passions? Like roses, the opera - strawberry cupcakes, for crying out loud!

"Oh, Greg, don't look so dour!" Hyperion chides him jovially.

He was never this nice when Greg was young. Never this loving. They have grown so much closer since… well… since Amy.

Greg can't help but smile, when his father pats his hand.

"There, much better." Hyperion nods happily, his many chins wobbling. "Now, let me tell you about my afternoon…"


	15. Pretty Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Pretty Present  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Ivan/slave boy, Anita  
> Prompt: I vaguely recall a quote in your first Ivan story mentioning that "he wasn't a true dracon because all he ever wanted to do with his slaves was cuddle". Maybe a little insight into one of those evenings with some young male slave?

Anita watched in silent and slightly shocked disgust as her brother gently fed another slice of iced melon to the pretty slave boy lounging on the divan next to him.

He was exquisite, his skin the colour of milk chocolate, thick black curls cascading down his naked back, graceful limbs pleasantly arranged to show off all his assets.

Everything about him beckoned to be claimed, to be marked, to broken to a skilful master's will.

And the only thing retarded little Vanya could come up with was feeding him treats and timidly stroking his hand.

The boy laughed quietly, leaning closer to lick clean fingers sticky with juice and Vanya blushed.

It made Anita want to string up both of them and carve them open with that fruit knife.

She looked over to where her father was sitting and noted that he was watching as well, a deep frown etched into his brow.

No, this was definitely not what he had hoped for when he purchased this slave for his weakling of a son.

Anita felt a smirk tug at her lip.

Surely he would welcome her intervention. Surely he would approve when she put that boy to the uses he was meant for.


	16. At the top of the world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: At the top of the world  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Leesha/Josh/Jay  
> Prompt: In case I can I want something cuddly, I've only read a few of them so I don't know all the pairings, but could I get something fluffy between one of the Emperors and their slaves, please

"This is actually pretty nice." Leesha said softly, leaning back against the comfortable firmness of Jay's chest behind him.

"Mmh, yes, there has to be some perk to you having to put up with this shitty job." Josh remarked from where he was lying with his head resting on Leesha's thigh.

Jay just chuckled and laid his chin on Leesha's shoulder, his eyes on the spectacular view of the sun slowly drowning in the thick layer of clouds below them.

Here, at the top of the central spire of the palace, they were well above cloud level. Well above everything, really. To Jay it felt like they were the only three beings in existence in their tiny little palace in the sky.

He marvelled at the feeling of Leesha's weariness slowly draining away, how their three heartbeats aligned, how they breathed and felt in unison.

It was a quiet happiness they shared, a closeness that Jay treasured.

"I do love you." Josh said with a soft sigh, gazing up at Leesha and Jay. "Both of you."

Leesha picked up Josh's hand and gently kissed his fingertips, then turned his head to Jay. They kissed languidly for a little while.

Then all three of them turned their eyes back to the setting sun.


	17. Failure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Failure  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Wesley  
> Prompt: can I be the ugly duckling and request something dark, twisted and fucked up? Or at least angsty. And not in a sexy way. Let's say Wesley during his first assignment?  
> Warnings: dark

The sound of crying was barely perceptible. To any other ear would probably have been. But Wesley was too well trained, his every sense too much on edge not to notice.

He stopped in his tracks, right in front of the door he had been passing by, his ears straining, hoping against hope that he had been mistaken.

But there it was a again, a tiny, muffled sob from inside.

A shudder ran through Wesley as the meaning of that soft sound pierced his heart.

Failure.

Failure to sufficiently distract the duke.

Once more the Duke of Del'Morad had sated his lusts on another target.

He had one job here and that was to keep the beloved son of his mistress safe.

Darkness and cold wrapped around his heart. He would have to try harder. Overcome the last shreds of self-preservation that lingered in his mind.

Only he must suffer the Duke.

Whatever the cost.


	18. Take a break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Take a break  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Thomar/Robert  
> Prompt: So I would like Robert and Thomar and as prompt I would say "gardening"! >:D Maybe its Dracon way of gardening or just normal gardening!

"Tell me again why we are here?" Robert asked and unhappily eyed the spot under the window where he had been sitting for days, staring off into nothing or crying.

The country estate he had been banished to when Thomar had been kidnapped by demons was still as beautiful, but his dark memories made it feel uncomfortable.

"Because," Thomar replied utterly impressed by his pet's unease, "I think it will be therapeutic for you to be here and replace the bad memories with good ones. And because after everything that has happened recently we both deserve a weekend off. And because Alain deserves a reward for finding you here he can run all over the place without bothering anyone."

Robert sighed dramatically while Thomar heaped his bag onto the bed, opened it and started rummaging inside. Robert gingerly stepped up to the window and looked outside. The sight of Alain racing towards the shore with a laughing T'lark running after him did cheer him up a little.

"And most importantly, because of this!" Thomar announced triumphantly from the bed.

When Robert turned around he was extracting a bulky stack of four huge books from his bag. They were leather bound and Robert immediately recognized the emblem on the back.

"Oh… is that…?" he asked, the gloomy past here suddenly forgotten as he made his way over to peer at the books hopefully.

"Yep, the new and improved 173rd edition of the Gardening Manuals, fresh of the press." Thomar confirmed with a happy grin. "And we will have all weekend to browse the new additions and try them out. Apart from winter gardening obviously."

Robert grinned at him cheekily. "Oh, I'll at least want to read it. Got to keep up to date after all."

Thomar laughed and pulled him into his arms. "Anything you want, love," he said then said softly, "absolutely anything you want."


End file.
